Introduction

One of the drivers for the strategy
Scotland's
Digital Future: Delivery of Public Services was to ensure that
our
ICT
infrastructure is deployed in an energy-efficient manner and, by
delivering services digitally, reduce carbon impact. This reflected
a recommendation of the
Review of
ICT
Infrastructure in the Public Sector in Scotland report by John
McClelland which said it was important that we ensure the way in
which we deploy and manage our
ICT
operations in the public sector minimises its effect on the
environment, in terms of energy usage and emissions as data
processing equipment, and supporting facilities can be significant
contributors to greenhouse gas emissions.

Scottish public sector Green
ICT
Vision :
A cost effective and energy efficient
ICT
estate that reduces the environmental impact and
continually looks at more sustainable ways of working for
the public sector.

Green
ICT is
a frequently used term that commonly refers to ways of managing
climate change due to
ICT.
Green
ICT
aims at reducing emissions and other waste produced across the
ICT
lifecycle - from procurement, operation of
ICT in
an organisation and disposal.

The services delivered in Scotland's public sector are extensive
and underpinned by
ICT.
Consequently the
ICT
estate is considerable, consisting of hundreds of data centres,
thousands of applications and a great many end user devices. Such a
large
ICT
estate offers great potential to contribute to a greener
environment by reducing waste and improving efficiency. The
environmental impact of
ICT is
more than just the energy it uses in operation, it spans from
procurement, through operation to eventual reuse, recycling and
disposal. It is essential that the Scottish public sector
ICT
infrastructure is operated in a green and cost effective
manner.

The strategy recognises the dual role of
ICT in
respect of environmental issues. On the one hand,
ICT
generates significant greenhouse gas emissions. On the other,
ICT is
an enabler to change the way government operates and provides
services and realise efficiency and environmental improvements on a
much wider and a larger scale. For example, by making use of
technologies such as teleconferencing, an organisation can reduce
travel costs, improve productivity and produce lower carbon
emissions.

The strategy provides principles and guidelines on how public
sector organisations in Scotland will contribute to meeting the
Scottish Government's environmental targets. Progress on how
ICT is
contributing to those targets will be monitored through the
measurement and benefits framework against
which all digital delivery is made and for this strategy
specifically

Benefit 11 - We are helping to reduce Scotland's
carbon footprint.

This strategy aligns with other programmes (see
Annex
I) of work in the strategy
Scotland's
Digital Future: Delivery of Public Services; for example the
data centre consolidation workstream which focuses on consolidation
and re-use to achieve potentially significant cost-savings
associated with energy consumption.

This strategy provides the principles and guidelines that
Scottish public sector organisations will use to: